Brent Hayden was born in Maple Ridge and started swimming competitively with the Mission Marlins at age five. As an elite-level athlete, he became world champion in the 100-metre freestyle and was a three-time Olympian. At the London Summer Olympics in 2012, he was the first Canadian to compete in the 100-metre freestyle final since the 1960 Olympics. He won bronze and shortly after announced his retirement. Now he coaches young swimmers, and he’s focused on a career in photography. An exhibition of his work opens Tuesday, March 11 at Foot of Main Gallery, 119 Main at Alexander.

A Well, it was my third Olympics. The first two were disappointments in their own different ways. In the last four years leading to London I was really persevering and dealing with the fact that I was older than everyone I was competing against. Growing up, I was beating the guys older than me and now here I was trying to beat the guys younger than me. After getting that bronze medal, I realized that was pretty much the pinnacle of my athletic achievement.

Q Do you ever think about competing again?

A I definitely contemplated it, especially after watching the world championship on TV last summer and realizing my London time was good enough for another medal. I had to remember why it felt so good to retire after London. I had my doubts at times. It was the biggest part of my life and now I’m moving onto something new. It’s a bit scary at times. Life wasn’t set up for after sport. I miss my friends a lot.

Q How are you involved with swimming now?

A It’s a big part of what I do. I’m running swim camps and coaching privately — one on ones with younger swimmers. I’m starting to get to the point where I’m doing it every weekend. I need to get back to the swim community. I’d be incredibly selfish if I kept everything I learned to myself.

Q How is being a photographer different from being an elite-level athlete?

A In swimming, I wasn’t allowed to be creative. I had to figure out the perfect way to do certain tasks or performances. In photography, you’re free to do whatever you want. That’s one thing I love about it. In swimming, I was never able to learn absolutely everything. That’s what I like about photography — there is always room for improvement. There is always something new to try. There are always limits that you can push. That’s one thing that keeps me going.

Q As a photographer, what are you trying to capture in your landscapes?

A When I was swimming, what I really tried to capture were landscapes but not in a way where I try to record what’s in front of me. I take a landscape and try to show it in a way that you can’t see with the naked eye and turn it into fine art.

Q How did you come up with the idea of putting a man in a suit and a gas mask?

A It started when I was in Estonia about 10 years ago. My coach and I went with a couple of teammates. We were on a walking tour of downtown Tallinn and this random guy comes up and starts selling me all this Cold War paraphernalia. One of the things he had on him was a gas mask. I bought it for $10. It just sat in my closet for years. As I started getting more and more into photography, I thought this was something I could use. Five years later, I finally captured my first image. It’s the other part of my art show — I’m calling it my Atomic Series. It’s an ongoing personal project of portraits of people but they’re wearing gas masks. I just wanted to show a man in a business suit — that starts creating a story right there: You ask yourself ‘Who is this guy? What does he do? Where is he from?’ There is this gas mask and a sense of impending doom. I’m not saying that there is only one message I’m trying to convey. I’m trying to start a conversation and get people to come up with their own interpretation.

Q Why do you want people to come see your art exhibition?

A Photography is not something that I just picked up after I retired. I started doing photography back in high school. Photography was my way of de-stressing while I was swimming. It was my emotional mental outlet during tough training. I was just shooting for myself. I didn’t think anyone else would appreciate it. I’m ready to show the world that I’m not just another jock athlete. I’m actually a really good artist as well.

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Olympic swimmer Brent Hayden gets creative with a camera

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